The Unregulated Nature of the Art Market and Its Potential Impact on the Economy

A research essay in this context will bring together multiple sources that address a common theme (or set of themes) relevant to the film, and the thesis you want to support, based in the research you have done for your annotated bibliography and the knowledge you have built throughout the term. The thesis will draw on this research, demonstrating how it has shaped your understanding of themes and issues related to The Lost Leonardo. What do you want readers to understand about this film, the history or ideas it portrays/represents, and what scholars have had to say about these? What kind of thesis – about this specific film, about scholarship about film more generally, and/or about the issues raised in the film – can you build, based on the secondary sources you have reviewed for your annotated bibliography?

You do have some freedom in terms of how you approach this assignment. Usually, in ACMB01, a live art exhibition or theatrical performance is the core object of engagement in the research essay. This is not possible in the same ways this term, so we are using a documentary film as our media object, instead. You can certainly make The Lost Leonardo the centerpiece of your essay, to which you apply insights collected from your scholarly research in the annotated bibliography. If you would prefer to focus on developing the issues you discovered in the annotated bibliography more deeply, the film can act more as one example or point of reference among others. The film should remain an important inspiration for your work, but you may use it either as an object to which you apply analysis or as one example of a media object that represents issues found in your research. Further details on possible topics and approach are provided in the annotated bibliography assignment guide

Length: 1700-2000 words, including a separate Works Cited page. Do not include a title page, as MLA formatting does not call for one. (But do give your essay a unique title that reflects its content and engages the reader).

Sources: Your research essay should bring together no fewer than 7 scholarly sources, as well as the film itself, for a total of 8 minimum sources. (There is no maximum number of sources, though it would be very rare for a project of this length to exceed 10-12 scholarly sources). Many of the sources used in the research essay should carry over from your annotated bibliography. Note that there are fewer sources “required” for the research essay than there were for the annotated bibliography, and there is reasoning behind this: As you move into the process of writing and refining your thesis and argumentation, you may find that a few sources are not as useful as you initially thought they would be. This is natural and simply part of the process of research and writing – sometimes, you get rid of a few sources; sometimes, you add a few sources. You need to see where the essay takes you and what you need to support your ideas rather than cramming in a less-relevant source simply because it was in the annotated bibliography. Just as every word, sentence, and paragraph in your research essay should serve a particular purpose, so should every secondary source.

Format and Citation: Your essay must follow MLA 8 guidelines for both citation and page layout (formatting). Incorrect formatting and/or citation will result in a deduction of up to one full letter grade. A complete resource for MLA 8 essay formatting and citation is available here: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Specific discussion of citing a film can be found within that resource, here: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_other_common_sources.html